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Mark Cuban was just fined $600k by the NBA for openly admitting to tanking ... less than 24 hours after a bombshell report was released exposing "predatory sexual behavior" in the Mavs' workplace.

"Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban has been fined $600,000 for public statements detrimental to the NBA," the league said in a statement.

Cuban made his tanking comments on Dr. J's podcast earlier this week, saying -- "I'm probably not supposed to say this, but I just had dinner with a bunch of our guys the other night ... and I said, 'Look, losing is our best option.'"

The fine's chump change for a billionaire like Cuban ... but the timing couldn't be worse.

Sports Illustrated published an article Tuesday night alleging crude sexual harassment on the part of former Mavs president and CEO Terdema Ussery. The article also claims a former writer for the Mavs' website kept his job despite committing multiple acts of domestic assault.

Farrah Abraham says a 'Teen Mom' honcho ridiculed her for her adult film work, and she's not gonna take it laying down ... she's taking the whole company to court.

Farrah says she met with Morgan J. Freeman (no relation), an executive producer on "Teen Mom OG," at her home in Texas last October. In a lawsuit, she says Freeman harassed, humiliated and degraded her doing porn.

The 'Backdoor Teen Mom' star says Freeman went on to threaten her future career at MTV, and she "feared for her life" because he was hostile toward her. According to docs, obtained by TMZ, shortly after the meeting MTV fired Farrah from the remainder of the 'OG' season, and also pulled the plug on negotiations for a long-term deal.

MTV aired portions of Farrah and Freeman meeting in a preview for the current season -- it was clearly tense, but there was no mention of her porn career in the clip that aired.

Farrah's suing Freeman, Viacom -- MTV's parent company -- and a few smaller production companies for at least $5 million.

Harvey Weinstein wants one of the class action lawsuits against him dismissed, and says Gwyneth Paltrow and Jennifer Lawrence prove the case has some major holes.

Weinstein filed docs responding to the suit ... which claims he -- along with the board of TWC -- used his power to intimidate women and cover up his pattern of sexual misconduct. In his new docs Weinstein says his experience with Gwyneth shows he did NOT intimidate women.

He says even though Gwyneth has accused him of harassing her in 1994, while filming "Emma," he points out she went on to star in other Weinstein movies, including "Shakespeare in Love" ... which earned her an Oscar. His point ... her career clearly didn't "suffer as a result of her rebuffing his alleged advances."

In the docs, Weinstein also says J Law and Meryl Streep show the plaintiffs are trying to drag too many people into the class action suit. It seeks to include "all women who met with Harvey" about Weinstein projects. But Weinstein says Jennifer has spoken glowingly about him, and he quotes, "he had only ever been nice to me." He adds Meryl also echoed her praise, calling him respectful in their working relationship.

Weinstein wants the suit tossed for those reasons, and also because he says the sexual misconduct allegations fall outside the statute of limitations.

Wanna own a home with its own baseball field, indoor basketball court, full gym ... and a private fishing pond?!!?

Good news -- Cal Ripken Jr. is putting his incredible Maryland home on the auction block ... which means it could all be yours if you've got roughly $10 million to spend!

Ripken initially put the 24-acre estate on the market for $12.5 mil back in 2016 -- but the price was just too damn high ... so Cal chopped the asking price down to $9.75 mil back in April 2017.

Still, no takers -- but Cal's motivated to sell ... so he's bringing the home to auction with no reserve on May 12.

Here are the highlights ... the home is roughly 22,000 square feet and has 6 bedrooms, 15 bathrooms, a home theater, 10-person spa, private hiking trails, pool and a kitchen that can fit 100 people!

8:26 AM PT -- A rep for "The Wendy Williams Show" says they'll be running reruns of her show during her hiatus after Wednesday's episode ... while going on to call her a "true champion" whose health comes before all else.

Wendy Williams is taking several weeks off from her TV show -- on doctor's orders -- to deal with a medical crisis related to hyperthyroidism.

Wendy announced at the top of Wednesday's show that she's suffering from Graves' disease ... an immune system disorder. She says one of the symptoms effects the muscles behind her eyeballs ... which she tried to turn into a joke.

Feb 21. 9:06 AM PT -- The San Francisco Giants released a statement saying Cepeda was hospitalized due to a "cardiac incident" ... and is in critical condition.

7:45 AM PT -- Cepeda "suffered a severe blow to the skull" after falling in the parking lot of his gym on Monday ... Orlando's family friend, Minor League Dodgers coach Paco Figueroa, told Puerto Rican newspaper El Nuevo Dia.

Baseball Hall of Famer Orlando Cepeda, 80, was rushed to a Bay Area hospital on Monday night ... according to an SF Giants team official who spoke with one of Cepeda's family members.

The official had no information on Cepeda's current condition or the reason he was hospitalized.

Orlando's last public appearance was at AT&T Park in January ... when he joined Willie McCovey and other former Giants teammates for Mac's 80th birthday party.

Cepeda is one of the greatest players in Giants history, making 7 All-Star teams (6 with SF) and winning NL MVP in 1967 with the Cardinals. He also played for the Braves, A's, Red Sox and Royals.

He became the 2nd Puerto Rican player to make the Hall in '99, joining Roberto Clemente.

Billy Graham, perhaps the most famous evangelist in U.S. history, is dead.

Graham died at his home early Wednesday morning in North Carolina. He had been ill for more than a decade. His death was attributed to natural causes.

Graham got involved in evangelism at 16 and rose to fame in his 30s when he held "sin-smashing" revival meetings under a circus tent in an L.A. parking lot. He then created his own ministry -- the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.

Graham was at one time a segregationist but, after the U.S. Supreme Court handed down Brown vs. Board of Education -- which ended segregation in public schools -- he flipped the switch and became a civil rights leader. He integrated seating at his revival meetings, and became a close ally of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. They preached together to millions who listened to their message.

He also refused to visit South Africa during the Apartheid era until the government allowed blacks and whites to sit together at his revival meetings.

Graham rubbed elbows with world dignitaries for decades, from Buckingham Palace to the White House. He was counsel to a number of presidents, from Harry S. Truman to Barack Obama.

And this is interesting ... Graham was a Democrat, but fiercely opposed the candidacy of John F. Kennedy because he thought no good would come from a Roman Catholic leading the country.

Graham was married for 64 years to Ruth McCue Bell, who died in 2007. They had 5 children.

Graham was 99.

Mark Cuban says he's already begun firing and suspending Dallas Mavericks front office employees over a Sports Illustrated article that paints the company as a nightmare place for female employees.

The article came out late Tuesday and contains quotes from several current and former female employees who say they experienced sexual harassment and "predatory sexual behavior" while working with the Mavs.

Among the allegations in the article ... former Mavericks president and CEO Terdema Ussery allegedly told one female employee, "You're going to get gang-banged, aren't you?"

When the woman told Ussery she was actually going to the movies with friends he replied, "No, you're definitely getting gang-banged." Terdema has denied the allegations.

Another claim from the article ... a former Mavs website writer committed multiple acts of domestic assault, including against a female employee he was dating.

Both employees -- Ussery and the writer are no longer with the team.

Cuban has essentially said he didn't know about the alleged incidents -- claiming he would speak with his head of human resources and was assured he didn't have a problem in the Mavs organization.

When he learned of the incidents via the Sports Illustrated reporters, Cuban says he immediately took action -- hiring an independent law firm to investigate and a 3rd party company to handle harassment complaints.

Cuban says he's also fired his head of H.R.

"I want to deal with this issue," Cuban told SI ... adding, "There's a problem in the Mavericks organization and we've got to fix it."

Chris Cornell's wife, Vicky Karayiannis, blames her late husband's doctor for his suicide, saying the MD never should have prescribed a drug to relieve pain.

Vicky appeared on 'GMA' Wednesday and told Robin Roberts Chris was suffering from a shoulder injury and his doctor prescribed a benzodiazepine for relief. She says he was a recovering addict and should never have been given such a drug without close supervision.

Vicky says Chris began abusing the drug which then led to a relapse.

TMZ broke the story ... Chris hanged himself in a Detroit hotel room last May shortly after a Soundgarden concert. The Medical Examiner said he had a variety of drugs in his system, including a sedative, barbiturates and Ativan.

Vicky says Chris would never have killed himself in a sober state ... she says he loved life.

"Teen Mom 2" cast member David Eason's officially been given the boot from the hit show ... TMZ has learned.

Jenelle Evans' husband came under fire for an anti-LGBTQ rant online Monday, and now MTV has severed ties. According to a network spokesperson ... Eason's comments do not reflect its views, and "with six weeks left of production ... effective immediately, we are ending our relationship with him."

Evans' co-star Kailyn Lowry told TMZ earlier Tuesday that she was disgusted and disappointed by Eason's comments ... and believed he should be kicked off the show.

In her husband's defense, Jenelle said she and David have gay friends and insisted he doesn't hate the LGBTQ community. She also apologized.

Tavis Smiley says PBS firing him wasn't just about sexual harassment allegations ... he now claims it was racial, and it's costing him millions upon millions of dollars.

Smiley filed a lawsuit against his former network -- which aired his talk show for 14 years -- claiming the sexual harassment allegations against him were "trumped up." Immediately after Smiley was suspended in mid December, he admitted to having relationships with coworkers ... but insisted they were all consensual. He was fired later that month.

In his lawsuit, first reported by the Washington Post, Smiley says there was racial tension at PBS. He claims network honchos "hassled Mr. Smiley when he had African American guests who espoused controversial positions, and effectively tried to stop any such guests from appearing."

Smiley also says in the docs ... his personal production company has been hemorrhaging "multiple millions of dollars" since he got fired, and he's been forced to lay off roughly 20 employees.

PBS calls Smiley's lawsuit a "meritless" attempt to distract the public from his "pattern of sexual misconduct." Jennifer Rankin Byrne, Communications VP for PBS, also reiterated an independent law firm's investigation found Smiley had "multiple sexual encounters with subordinates over many years."

Bill Belichick didn't win the Super Bowl -- but he's winning at life.

Here's Bill's long-term girlfriend, Linda Holliday, stuntin' in a fishnet 1-piece somewhere a hell of a lot warmer than New England ... and lookin' damn good.

No sign of Bill -- guessing he's behind the camera in a hoodie.

It's the second beach pic Linda's shared since the Super Bowl ... but play time's over for her Coach Belichick, 'cause she also mentioned they just got back to Boston.

Sure Bill's stoked to get back to work -- though we bet he prefers hangin' with a half-naked Linda.

By the way, Bill and Linda reportedly met back in 2007 and began dating shortly after that. Since they've been together, the Patriots have been to 5 Super Bowls and won 2 of 'em.

President Trump's doing something about gun control -- he says he's signed paperwork directing Jeff Sessions to get the ball rolling on banning "all devices that turn legal weapons into machine guns."

Trump says this process actually started after the Las Vegas massacre in October, when he told the Attorney General to look into whether the bump stocks used by Stephen Paddock were illegal under current law.

The Prez must have been encouraged by what Sessions reported back, because now -- in the wake of the Florida school shooting by Nikolas Cruz that left 17 people dead -- he's made a big move to propose regulations almost all gun control advocates support.

It's unclear what Sessions will do from here, but steps are clearly being taken to address the gun crisis.

However, don't count on the Florida State House to follow suit. Around the same time Trump made his announcement, state legislators voted down a measure to hear a bill banning assault rifles 71-36.

Serena Williams says she "almost died" after giving birth to her daughter, Alexis Olympia -- if not for a team of super doctors who removed a large hematoma from her abdomen.

The tennis star says her daughter was born by an emergency C-section on Sept. 1 after Olympia's heart rate plummeted during contractions.

The surgery went smoothly, Serena said on CNN.com ... "But what followed just 24 hours after giving birth were six days of uncertainty."

Williams says she suffered a pulmonary embolism -- which is when a blood clot blocks one or more arteries in her lungs.

Serena contacted medical professionals -- but the coughing from the embolism got so bad, her C-section wound popped open and she required another surgery.

"The doctors found a large hematoma, a swelling of clotted blood, in my abdomen. And then I returned to the operating room for a procedure that prevents clots from traveling to my lungs."

Serena eventually made it home and was ordered to spend the next 6 weeks in bed.

She credits the "incredible medical team of doctors and nurses at a hospital with state-of-the-art equipment" -- and urges people to support UNICEF, which provides medical services to mothers and babies around the world.

The University of Louisville is being forced to vacate all basketball wins from the 2011-12 season through the 2014-15 season -- including their 2013 National Championship ... and it's all over the sex party scandal.

An NCAA investigation found "a former Louisville director of basketball operations acted unethically when he committed serious violations by arranging striptease dances and sex acts for prospects, student-athletes and others, and did not cooperate with the investigation."

The punishment was initially handed down in June 2017 -- but Louisville appealed. Now, the NCAA is upholding the ruling ... which means the banner is coming down.

As we previously reported, the allegations made headlines back in 2015 when self-described madam Katina Powell claimed U of L staff paid her more than $10,000 for dances and sex services from her stable of escorts.

In her book, Powell singles out ex-Louisville staffer Andre McGee -- a graduate assistant who became director of basketball operations -- claiming he was the point man who paid Powell.

Powell claims her stable of dancers included her own daughters -- and they would perform for Louisville players at various off-campus locations from 2010 to 2014.

After the dances, Powell claims she would negotiate a separate fee for the players to have sex with the women.

Milo Yiannopoulos' $10 million lawsuit against Simon & Schuster is over and done ... and the publishing giant says it isn't paying him a dime.

TMZ broke the story ... Milo sued his former publisher claiming they caved from mounting pressure -- from all kinds of celebs -- to put the kibosh on his book deal after allegations surfaced he condoned pedophilia.

Milo's lawsuit claimed Simon & Schuster was set to publish his book, "Dangerous," but got cold feet when stars like Sarah Silverman and Leslie Jones put Milo's publishers on blast for helping Milo spread hate speech.

Now both sides have filed to dismiss the lawsuit, and Milo can't refile it either. Usually that means there was some sort of settlement paid, but Simon & Schuster says "We are pleased that Mr. Yiannopoulos’ lawsuit has been withdrawn, with prejudice, and with no payment. We stand by our decision to terminate the publication of Mr. Yiannopoulos’ book."

The only upshot for Milo is his $80,000 advance for the book. He tells us he got to keep that, and brags he's made more than $1 million from publishing the book on his own. He says he didn't want to blow that money on lawyers ... and that's why he walked away from the lawsuit.